International friends still excited about Estonia

At the end of last week, a few hundred movers and shakers from all corners of the Earth gathered in Tallinn for the Estonia’s Friends International Meeting.

This high-profile gathering was first initiated in 2010 by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, entrepreneur Margus Reinsalu and the management of Enterprise Estonia (EAS).

The aim of the event is to recognise international investors, politicians and artists, whose activities and advice have helped Estonia develop into a European country with a dynamic economy and vibrant culture, but as always when foreign guests are invited over, another goal is to spread the message that Estonia is successful, interesting and open to investment.

When introducing Estonia, Reinsalu has found that when someone simply talks about Estonia to foreigners they will politely listen but will soon forget: “However, if these same people can visit Estonia and see for themselves how successful Estonia is, what great opportunities are here for investment and how beautiful the environment is, then they will remember a lot more and will be likely to return,” he said.

“So we have two main objectives: first, to make sure that the positive message about Estonia gets across to as many and as far as possible; and secondly – to have as many Estonia’s friends in the world, as possible. In the latter sense we see them like our own, personal friends – just like in our personal lives, we don’t always expect something back from our friends, but rather that they are always there for us in difficult moments, for example,” Reinsalu said.

Every year a slightly different selection of international friends are invited to Estonia and the two-day program includes seminars as well as entertainment.

At the EAS-organized seminar, “Estonia – Where Stuff Happens First”, it was clear that the country has many wholehearted advocates on the global stage.

If Estonians themselves may already be slightly bored of hearing and reading the articles on how “wired Estonia is” or that “how you can do everything online here” - it's everyday routine and life for the country's inhabitants – then many foreign investors and business people are still sincerely excited and amazed about “e-Estonia”.

Damir Tomicic, the co-founder and managing director of Axinom Group, a dynamic and fast growing IT company with subsidiaries in USA, Germany, UK and Estonia, gave a passionate presentation from the investor's perspective and brought up many advantages Estonia has, compared to for example, Germany. To prove his point, he projected a terrifying maze on the screen, contrasting that with an image of serene beach – a symbolic illustration of respective tax systems in Germany and Estonia.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas met with the delegation from Japanese giant Mitsubishi, led by its long-term President and current Honorary Chairman Mikio Sasaki.

Estonia's cooperation with Mitsubishi goes back some time – it began from the sale of CO2 allowances in 2010 to the company, in exhange of 507 Mitsubishi electric cars, used by social workers of local governments, and an extensive network of 250 charging stations.

The Parliament's bulding in Toompea hosted a more forward-looking symposium, called "Quo Vadis, Estonia?" where President Ilves raised the question of free movement of digital services in Europe and expressed his concern about continent's long-term entrepreneurial future. Ilves cited Hardi Meybaum – the Estonian founder of Boston-based GrabCAD – as an example of what is possible in the United States versus Europe. Meybaum founded his startup in Tallinn, but soon relocated to the US where he managed to attract most of the capital. He sold the company last year for over 90 million euros (100 million dollars). “He could have never done it in Europe – not in Estonia, not in Europe. Our biggest worry is not to fall behind in Europe,” Ilves said.

Besides discussions about Estonia’s development, innovation and investment opportunities, the international guests also enjoyed a cultural program, the highlight of which was a concert by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by renowned maestro, Neeme Järvi.

A new study by researchers at the University of Tartu found that 32 percent of Estonian children and young people experience sexual abuse, but that only a small percentage of them ever turn to a specialist with the problem.

Making for quite the start into the new year, the presidential wedding of 2 January has attracted a lot of attention. Ieva Ilves, Estonia's new First Lady, has granted ERR her first interview, broadcasted today January 14.

The Center Party's attempt to throw out the act that allows the registration of same-sex couples seems to be gathering momentum. After the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE), IRL is now considering supporting the bid as well.

Estonian businessman Oleg Ossinovski is officially a suspect in the case of Ugis Magonis, the former head of Latvijas Dzelzcels (LDz, Latvian Railway) who was arrested in August 2015 on suspicions of graft, and it will soon be handed to the prosecutor's office, said Prosecutor General Eriks Kalnmeiers in an interview with commercial LNT television on Thursday.

The Estonian Chamber of Notaries has drawn up recommendations regarding the Cohabitation Act, which gives same-sex couples the right to legally register their relationship. The act is due to enter force on January 1, but implementing acts to the law were not passed by Parliament in time, causing legal confusion.

The referendum on same-sex marriages in Slovenia, where 63.5 percent voted against giving same-sex couple the right to marry, has given new energy to the anti camp in Estonia too, says Erkki Bahovski, head of the Diplomaatia magazine.

The fear of refugees is largely grounded in socio-economic insecurities of people with low income and education level, found a poll commission by the Goverment Office. At the same time, the number of people who say that refugees deserve our help has increased since the last poll in July.

The government plans to set a maximum immigration quota of 0.1 percent of the total population, or just below 1,320 people for 2016. Minister of Entrepreneurship Liisa Oviir sees a need to increase the number in the coming years.

The Supreme Court ruled that former Port of Tallinn supervisory board chairman and current Estonian Olympic Committee president Neinar Seli is guilty of overseeing donations by the port authority to the committee.

Implementing acts to the much debated Cohabitation Act, which gives same-sex couples more rights, will not be passed this year, meaning the initial act will enter force on January 1 with a number of legal loopholes and problems.

When asked about the most important episodes in Estonian history, most Estonians tend to bring out similar events. Tallinn University's professor of cultural history Marek Tamm claims that on the one hand, this can be attributed to the revolutionary importance of these events. On the other hand, it comes from the shared common memory, which helps Estonians remember the story of the their everlasting fight for freedom.

In an annual tradition dating back to 1994, the Estonian Newspaper Association (EALL) has named the year's most press friendly figure and the most unfriendly figure, with police chief Elmar Vaher named the former and businessman Rein Kilk the latter.

Prosecutor General Lavly Perling said if corruption is not investigated then it supposedly is non-existent and Estonia can climb international rankings in the short-term, adding that the effects will kick in later when people discover corruption has set in in new places.

Former First Lady Evelin Ilves said President Toomas Hendrik Ilves's recent engagement new answers many questions asked from her since August 2014, when she was pictured in an intimate embrace with an unidentified younger man at a Tallinn roof-top hotspot.